WHO IS ANTHONY CALVILLO

I can not think of anything good to write about the Jets right now, so I am going to turn my attention to north of the border and give credit to someone that is not exactly a household name here in the states.

On October 10, 2011, the quarterback for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League, passed Damon Allen's record for most yards passed in a professional football career. The record now stands at 72,770 yards. Brett Favre ranks third with 71,838 yards.

The name of this record holder is Anthony Calvillo. He is 39 years old, a graduate of La Puente High (California), a Utah State alumnus and a cancer survivor.

In 1993, Calvillo lead Utah State to a Big West co-championship and a win in the Las Vegas Bowl. This was the first and only bowl game in Utah State's history. The scouts never came knocking on his door because he was too short for a quarterback at 6'1".

After college Calvillo became a teacher and a football coach. He ended up going to a try-out for the CFL in Las Vegas and the league picked him up. Going to the CFL was a learning experience for Calvillo. If you have not seen the CFL there are a number of differences than traditional football. The field is larger and longer, there are 12 players and there are three downs instead of four. The league is pretty much passer-friendly. Calvillo has completed 60 percent of his passes since 2003 and threw for 6,041 yards in 2004. Since he was named the starter for the Alouettes in 2000, the Montreal team has made eight appearances in the Grey Cup and they are the two-time defending champion.

In 2007, Calvillo's wife was diagnosed with lymphoma and he took a leave from football to be with her. She has been cancer free but during last off-season, Calvillo was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. He needed two operations and treatment with a radioactive iodine pill. He was healthy for the season opener last June.

Anthony Calvillo, an undrafted quarterback from Utah State, pursued his dream and now he is the all-time leading passer for all of professional football. Congratulations.